Thursday, October 18, 2007

Bargains at Jigsaw Health - Gluten-Free Bars and other products being discontinued

[UPDATE: The product (Jigsaw Bars) appear to no longer exist, sorry to say]
I have been a real fan of Jigsaw Health's Jigsaw Bars, not just because they are gluten-free bars, but because I really like the taste and texture and the fact they are sweetened with Xylitol instead of sugar. I wrote a Jigsaw Bar review on the Gluten-Free Blog a while back if you want more details of my opinion of the product.

Sadly, I just received an Email from Jigsaw Health saying that they are discontinuing these bars which I have come to love and consume regularly, and that they are offering the buy-one-get-one-free deal while supplies last, and free shipping over $69.00. I really liked how Jigsaw paid attention to labeling their products "gluten free" (or, containing no gluten, etc.) which made shopping through them much easier. And, this is one of those cases of a great gluten-free product (the Jigsaw Bars) just not getting enough press, market attention, and ultimately sales.

You can create a great gluten-free product, but if you can't find the market you need to support your manufacturing and sales operation, even the best product will disappear before it ever really takes off. I am definitely bummed out by this news about the Jigsaw Bar, as I will now need to seek an alternative product, and to date I have yet to encounter anything else that really offers what I want in such a product. Luckily, I have already tested freezing these things, and I just ordered a pile of them to put away for the next year or two.

I still want to talk to Pat Sullivan, the head of Jigsaw Health, and see if he'd consider just putting the product "on hold" for a while to see if enough demand can be generated to resurrect the bars in the not-to-distant future. And, if not, I'd like to see if by any (very outside) chance, would he be willing to release the gluten-free recipes / formulas for the Chocolate and Coconut-Almond jigsaw bars to the public-domain? I realize he used some hard to come by (from an individual's standpoint) high-end ingredients in those bars, like the whey-protein-crispy-things and the Omega-3 extracts and more, but if I could adapt the recipe and at least come close with something I could formulate at home, I'd gladly give it a try and release the resulting recipe for others. Perhaps Pat will be able to sell the rights to the formula to another manufacturer and recoup some of his investment instead, which I surely wouldn't blame him for if he can, and if it gave me a new commercial source for the bars again, that'd also be fine. But, if not, I'd sure like to try to bake / make such a thing myself.

In addition to the Jigsaw Bars, Jigsaw Health has other products - everything from vitamins and supplements to Xylitol products, and so much more - on sale right now, as they reduce their product offerings to focus on sustainability of their business. Since I already put in my order, I'm no longer worried about not getting my bars and a few other products before they sell out :)

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Gluten-Free Blog by Mike Eberhart

Like all gluten-free / Celiac persons, I want to live life to the fullest and not feel encumbered by the dietary constraints of a lifelong disease. The best way to overcome the initial "trauma" of finding out that you can no longer eat all your old favorite foods is to find replacements that are just as good (if not better) and safe for your new gluten-free diet.

I hope the information here on the GlutenFree Blog will allow you to quickly make the transition to an enjoyable and fulfilling gluten-free life and gluten free diet.To support this lifestyle evolution, I will present gluten-free product reviews, Celiac Disease science / medical information and news, gluten-free recipes, baking tips, and related discussion.

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